Texas won't sue city over NDO

Attorney General Greg Abbott is un- likely to file suit over the non- discrimination ordinance.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

A screen displays the results of the City Council vote regarding the non-discrimination ordinance. The council passed the proposal into law by a vote of 8-3 at City Council Chambers on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Daniel Graney (center) becomes emotional as members of the LGBT community and proponents of the non-discrimination ordinance celebrate after the City Council passed the proposal into law by a vote of 8-3 at City Council Chambers on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013.

Photo By Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

Tiffani Bishop (top left), Lauryn Farris, and Jennifer Falcon (center) celebrate Thursday Sep. 5, 2013 outside City Council chambers in Main Plaza after the council passed the nondiscrimination ordinance by a vote of 8-3.

Photo By Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

Jennifer Echeverry (left) and Julie Pousson celebrate with a rainbow flag Thursday Sep. 5, 2013 outside City Council chambers in Main Plaza after the council passed the nondiscrimination ordinance by a vote of 8-3.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Opponents and proponents of the council's proposed non-discrimination ordinance gather by City Council Chambers on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Steve Rock (left) joins other opponents of the city council's proposed non-discrimination ordinance in front of City Council Chambers on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

If the city workforce doesn't reflect the community, perhaps the city council should explore why. Here, opponents and proponents of the proposed non-discrimination ordinance pack City Council Chambers on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News

Members of the LGBT community and proponents of the non-discrimination ordinance gives applause to District 1 Councilman Diego Bernal after his remarks regarding the non-discrimination ordinance. The City Council passed the proposal into law by a vote of 8-3 at City Council Chambers on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013.

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SAN ANTONIO — City leaders expressed little surprise Wednesday that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has backed off a threat to sue San Antonio over its recently bolstered nondiscrimination ordinance.

Abbott's office said Wednesday that a suit against San Antonio is unlikely.

He publicly opposed the ordinance because it offered protections to people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Prohibiting discrimination against those classes, he and others argued, would trample on people's rights to free speech and religious exercise.

“His refusal to litigate is a prudent decision,” Mayor Julián Castro said. “His comments on the entire matter always struck me as the hustle of a politician not the judgment of a responsible attorney general.”

Abbott, considered the front-runner in the Republican gubernatorial primary, sent a lengthy letter to Castro on Sept. 4 that outlines a number of concerns about the ordinance. It passed 8-3 on Sept. 5, after much public debate.

Early in the letter, he references distress over the usage of the term “word or deed” in a passage that prohibits members of the city's boards and commissions from taking official action that discriminates against a number of protected classes, including sexual orientation and gender identity.

Bean wrote that the adopted version of the ordinance no longer contains the language that concerned Abbott.

“We are pleased the City Council heeded our advice and deleted this provision, which surely would have been grounds for a constitutional challenge to the ordinance,” she wrote. “We will continue to review the ordinance and monitor the situation.”

City officials said the council had discussed removing the language before Abbott's letter and didn't do so because of it.

The term “word or deed” is archaic and doesn't appear in other sections of city code, City Attorney Michael Bernard said. It was originally included in the nondiscrimination ordinance because it was actually already there.

The new ordinance is based primarily on existing city code that has been in place for decades.

“Removing ('word or deed') had no effect whatsoever,” Bernard said.

When the language was in the draft document, the ordinance prohibited board and commission members from discriminating against the listed protected classes. When the language was removed, the ordinance still has the exact same effect, he said.

Other advocacy groups in Texas have threatened lawsuits, but Bernard said he's received no notice that any of them have followed through.